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Sen. Rand PaulRand PaulThe Hill's 12:30 Report This week: GOP picks up the pieces after healthcare defeat Trump, GOP fumble chance to govern MORE (R-Ky.) says Vice President Pence should oversee the Senate's debate on the GOP healthcare plan, pitching the idea as a solution to end the current stalemate in the House over replacing ObamaCare.

Paul suggested that a "firm commitment" that Pence would preside over the Senate and be the one making decisions about what can be included in the bill would help reassure conservative House members that their changes won't be stripped out by the Senate's parliamentarian.

Paul, speaking to reporters about what could help the House reach a deal, responded, "If President Trump and Vice President Pence made a public declaration that they are willing to make the vice president sit in the chair and have the vice president make the judgment on what is allowable under Senate rules."

"Are we going to let the parliamentarian decide what should be in the bill or are we going to let the vice president?" Paul questioned during a call with reporters.

The vice president is also president of the Senate, though in modern times, the incumbent has rarely filled that role except to break tied votes in the chamber.

House Republicans postponed a vote Thursday on their bill, a major setback for Trump and Speaker Paul RyanPaul RyanTrump approval hits new low Conservatism's worst enemy? The Freedom Caucus. Newsmax CEO: 'Trump still the winner after Ryan plan fails' MORE (R-Wis.), who have been working to wrangle votes and exploring ways to secure conservative backing.

Conservatives argue that Pence can decide what is and what isnt eligible under the special budget reconciliation process, which allows Republicans to pass legislation with a simple majority.

Asked if he and the Freedom Caucus had been making that demand during their meetings with the White House, Paul declined to speak for House lawmakers but said that "it's been part of the discussions when I've been in the room."

Paul signaled that he was concerned that if conservatives included a repeal of ObamaCare's insurance mandates in the House bill that the Senate parliamentarian will strip them from the bill because of the Byrd Rule.

To pass muster under the Byrd Rule, legislation using the reconciliation process must be primarily focused on addressing the deficit, which is why only provisions that have a budgetary impact may be included.

GOP senators said this week that they are already working with the parliamentarian to make sure their amendments comply with the rule and will be eligible to be included in the repeal and replace legislation.

Senate GOP leaders are also warning against expanding the House healthcare bill too broadly.

Asked about Pence or even the parliamentarian ignoring the Byrd Rule, Sen. John CornynJohn CornynThis week: GOP picks up the pieces after healthcare defeat GOP senators pitch alternatives after House pulls ObamaCare repeal bill Rand Paul takes victory lap on GOP health bill MORE (R-Texas) downplayed the chances of that happening.

"I'm deeply skeptical of that because the Byrd Rule is not just a precedent, it's not just a rule of the Senate, it's a law. ... What we need to do is spend our energy and time trying to build consensus around something that can pass," he said.

Asked if House conservatives should stop pitching changes that could go against the Senate's Byrd Rule, he replied, "The House doesn't take advice from the Senate."

Read more:
Paul: Pence should oversee Senate ObamaCare repeal votes - The Hill (blog)

Sen. Rand PaulRand PaulTrump, GOP fumble chance to govern GOP senators pitch alternatives after House pulls ObamaCare repeal bill Rand Paul takes victory lap on GOP health bill MORE (R-Ky.) quickly declared victory on Friday, praising conservatives for "standing up against ObamaCare Lite."

I applaud House conservatives for keeping their word to the American people, Paul said in a statement.

Republican leaders pulled their bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare on Friday afternoon, acknowledging that it was headed toward defeat.

Paul who has been a top antagonist of the House bill added that "I look forward to passing full repeal of ObamaCare in the very near future.

Paul and other House conservatives have offered an alternative repeal bill that mirrors 2015 legislation cleared by Congress but vetoed by then-President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaPence: Trump 'won't rest' until ObamaCare repealed Christie: No evidence Trump was spied on Pence pushes Manchin in home state to support Gorsuch MORE.

GOP lawmakers haven't signaled that they are preparing to take up another healthcare bill, instead telling reporters that they didn't have a plan B.

"I have no idea because we have not discussed a plan B," Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) told reporters.

Senate leadership also signaled this week that they weren't preparing a backup plan if the House couldn't pass its repeal and replace bill.

"I'm not aware of any backup plan," Sen. John CornynJohn CornynGOP senators pitch alternatives after House pulls ObamaCare repeal bill Rand Paul takes victory lap on GOP health bill Senators push Trump on defense deals with India MORE (Texas), the Senate's No. 2 Republican, told The Hill. "I think our plan B is the same as our plan A."

The Senate will focus on Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court nomination ahead of a two-week recess, and lawmakers are expected to focus on avoiding a government shutdown once they return.

President Trump told The Washington Post on Friday afternoon that he is moving on from healthcare after the House GOP pulled its bill.

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Rand Paul takes victory lap on GOP health bill - The Hill (blog)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., isn't ready to give up yet on repealing and replacing Obamacare after the House GOP pulled the American Health Care Act from a vote on Friday, despite President Trump's insisting that his administration is moving on to tax reform.

"I think legislators can walk and chew gum hopefully at the same time, so why don't we do both? Why don't we set up a special committee," Paul told Fox News fill-in host Eric Bolling on "The O'Reilly Factor" Friday evening.

Paul, who was an ally to the House Freedom Caucus in their holdout over the Obamacare replacement bill, said the Trump administration should host the group, as well as House and Senate leadership at the White House and begin a "continuing conversation" about overturning the Affordable Care Act. Trump had met with members of the HFC multiple times during the past few days in the run-up to the expected vote.

"It doesn't have to be at the breakneck pace that it has been the last three days, but let's keep talking about it until we work it out," Paul said. "If we are going to talk about taxes simultaneously and move legislatively to that before we have the answer, so be it. But you can work both tracks, and whichever one comes to a resolution first, bring it to the floor for a vote."

Paul, a physician by trade, said he still has a "great deal of optimism" that the GOP-controlled House and Senate will repeal Obamacare and can work out the replacement aspect.

"I think that President Trump's been very open too many of our ideas. I just think we didn't have enough time and we set an artificial deadline and instead of saying we're going to work until we finally get this. I don't see a reason why we can't work next week, the week after, the week after, but we should work on repealing Obamacare and I'm going to continue to be for that as well as replacing it," added Paul.

In the interim, Paul said he is urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to take up legislation that would let people join buying groups or co-ops.

Paul added that Senate Democrats should support that policy because it would give consumers better drug and insurance prices.

Also from the Washington Examiner

In multiple cases, the pro-Trump ralliers were confronted by anti-Trump demonstrations.

03/25/17 7:04 PM

Original post:
Sen. Rand Paul: GOP can do tax reform, Obamacare repeal simultaneously - Washington Examiner

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he was still optimistic for the repeal of Obamacare after being one of the foremost critics that helped defeat the GOP replacement bill Friday. He also talked about how he encouraged the Freedom Caucus to defeat the bill by using tips from President Trumps book, The Art of the Deal.

He made the comments to Eric Bolling on Fox News.

I want to show our audience a little piece of tape from earlier in the week, Bolling said, where you actually went to the House Freedom Caucus side, and I guess you were teaching them the Art of the Deal.'

I brought you all a gift tonight, Paul said to the Freedom Caucus. The Art of the Deal. I do think its important as we go into this that we realize we have enormous power, actually you guys, have enormous power if you stick together. I put up a quote from the Art of the Deal that I thought was appropriate. The worst thing you can possible do in a deal is to seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then youre dead.'

And so, Bolling asked, is the lesson to be learned here that dont accept the first deal, but bring another one?

Well, these were Donald Trumps words, Paul answered. Dont be desperate to make a deal. But at the same time, what I would add to that is that we are open to making a deal and we still are open. Conservatives across the country want to repeal Obamacare.

Unfortunately, as the House leadership brought this forward, he explained, they brought repeal and replace with Obamacare lite. Nobody ran on that, and no conservative across the land wants it. We could start over with repeal as the basis, and actually some of the ideas, look I love the fact that Speaker brought up the association plans last week.

Paul also explained what he called, one of the most unreported stories of the week, that could push Republicans closer to repeal.

You know I think the Freedom Caucus wants what all conservatives want, and that is a repeal of Obamacare that ultimately lowers the price of insurance for people. If you look at the number one problem of Obamacare, its the people in the individual market go out to buy insurance, and the premiums are soaring through the roof, thats the real problem.

And thats why what I promoted as the number one replacement is letting people join buying groups. And one of the unreported stories of this week is the House of Representatives actually passed my replacement version or a similar version, for letting people join buying groups, or co-ops to bring prices down.

What Im advising Senator McConnell and the leadership is, he concluded, that bill should be brought up next week. This is a bill that is a big part of replacement. We should bring it up next week and see how the Democrats respond to that.

Trump said in remarks from the White House that he was moving on to tax reform and would allow Obamacare to collapse. Rather than reach out to Democrats on a bipartisan basis, he said they would run to him when they saw how former President Obamas signature bill would continue to implode and hurt Americans.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Friday after the bill was defeated that Democrats were willing to work with the president to fix Obamacare, but only if they gave up on repealing it.

Read more here:
Rand Paul used tips from 'the Art of the Deal' to defeat Trump's replacement bill - TheBlaze.com

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Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said Wednesday that House leadership needs to push back the Obamacare repeal vote to allow for changes to the legislation.

Paul who met with members of the House Freedom Caucus, which remains unsold on the measure has been highly critical of the bill, dubbing the legislation Obamacare lite. HFC Chairman Mark Meadows told reporters leadership is short on the votes needed to pass the legislation.

The Kentucky Republican said he believes leadership needs to acknowledge they dont have the votes , and give conservatives a seat at the table. The Kentucky Republican argued they are just moving out of the pre-negotiation phase, saying GOP lawmakers did not run on the House plan.

I dont think its getting out of the House, and thats the most important thing, Paul told reporters, adding he believes the HFC will continue to fight for changes. I think the stage that weve had so far is the pre-negotiation, now that there are enough votes to say that we can stop the Ryan plan, now the real negotiation will begin.

Paul argued the replacement plan he put forward is more conservative, adding he thinks the House bill gives Americans half as much Obamacare for people struggling with costs in the individual marker.

I frankly think that one of the biggest mistakes of this bill is it doesnt provide hope among, what are we going to do for the people that dont have insurance and are going take away government insurance. What are we going to give them? he continued. Ive been making an offer of something we could give them, we could give millions of people the opportunity to be in an association.

Both leadership and the administration are pulling out all the stops to attempt to sway members who remain on the fence. President Donald Trump attended the House GOPs conference meeting Tuesday, and Vice President Mike Pence met with lawmakers of the House Freedom Caucus Wednesday morning in an attempt to reach consensus.

The White House attempted to sweeten the deal for conservatives, with Trump reportedly promising HFC members he will publicly call on the upper chamber to eliminate essential health benefits which critics feel are largely responsible for increasing premiums. But the deal was not enough to get them on board as they want to assure the change makes it into the legislation.

Meadows, who remains a no vote, said he appreciates the administrations willingness to listen to their concerns and attempt to resolve the problem.

The president gets an A+ for being involved I can tell you the entire administration has had all hands on deck in terms of negotiations, and so I know we had a couple of our Freedom Caucus members meeting with the president as well, hetold reporters. I have nothing negative to report in terms of their willingness to engage and listen and hopefully reach a consensus. Im very hopeful that they change the bill, at this point, Ive learned not to bank on expectations.

House leadership counters they are not able to get everything conservatives want into the bill, due to procedural restrictions in the Senate. House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy have repeatedly claimed they plan to accomplish repeal and replacement promises using a three-prong system, which includes using executive orders to roll back Obamacare regulations and passing separate legislation not subject to the procedurallimitations of the Byrd rule.

Proponents tout conservative wins, including changes allowing block grants for Medicaid in various states and a provision incentivizingwork requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients.

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Rand Paul: Leadership Needs To Acknowledge They Don't Have The Votes To Pass AHCA - Daily Caller